Kiwis warned to check their power prices

31 March 2016

Kiwis warned to check their power prices

Electricity retailer Flick Electric Co. is warning New Zealanders to check their power prices as companies prepare to lift rates tomorrow.

“Many companies are inviting customers to lock in a new rate for a number of years, but this prevents them from shopping around for the best deal in the market on a regular basis,” says Flick CEO Steve O’Connor.

The Electricity Authority estimates that $280m in savings are available in the electricity retail market if all households were to switch to the best priced options.

“Over our 18 months in market we’ve established average customer savings of 18%, and in some places average savings are much higher.

“It really is worth the few minutes it takes to review and change retailer to save hundreds of dollars and get better service,” O’Connor says.

Consumer NZ’s powerswitch.org.nz website offers a comparison tool for finding the best priced retailer for a household. The tool also includes customer service ratings.

For customers who are not locked into a contract, switching electricity retailers can take as little as three minutes. The new retailer manages the ‘break up’ from the old retailer on behalf of the customer.

But contracted customers don’t have this choice, says O’Connor.

“The break fees people face when they’re on a contract are really unreasonable – often a few hundred dollars. It should be up to retailers to improve their offering if they want to keep their customers, rather than using a fine system to force them to stay.”

Flick doesn’t offer fixed term contracts.

“We think all kiwis should be reviewing their electricity prices at least yearly and moving when there’s a better option for them. Customer choice is the most important thing to us.”

ENDS

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